5 October 2016 

And so begins a new season, new website…same old format, mostly…the guns are on at Copper, Loveland and A-Basin, rumors flying about opening day.  So far the weather appears positive.  Photo above taken at Loveland late last night on the usual early season Catwalk route…lot of areas east and west looking at ramping up snowmaking ops early and often, especially after last season they’re looking to rebuild some momentum.  Prime example in the east is Bolton Valley, where they’re leasing an extra compressor for the month of November.  Bolton is one of those areas that usually relies heavily on mother nature, and it’s great when she cooperates.  Last year, not so much…Idaho’s underrated throwback Pebble Creek Ski Area in Inkom, which I think is near Pocatello, has reportedly been sold to a Utah entrepreneur named Shay Carl Butler, professionally Shay Carl.  I just read his entire Wikipedia entry and I still have no idea what he does, aside from buying a really cool ski area.  Pebble Creek, if you aren’t familiar with it (and I doubt you are) is a legit 2200′ vertical with some serious terrain and a top ticket price of $45.  It’s one of those place where the lift takes you up, and if you can see it, you can go ski it…speaking of Colorado, this is the time of year to grab the GEMS Card, that’s a deal where you get 2-fers at a bunch of the smaller Colorado operations, including Cooper, Eldora, Monarch, Powderhorn, Granby Ranch, plus the aforementioned Loveland and Arapahoe Basin.  Don’t wait too long for this one, it’s simply the best deal going at $25 a pop.  Here’s the link….ski swap season already underway, plenty of excitement this past weekend in Taylors Falls, Minnesota where Wild Mountain held a successful swap & open house…biggie coming up at Killington VT this coming weekend, that’s in the Rams Head lodge and it’s usually a zoo…BTW here’s an early season 2-for-1 deal for Killington, you need only subscribe to their newsletter and you get to ski for half price if you take a friend.  If you take your spouse or domestic partner you’ll pay full price, and they’ll ski for free.  In math I think they call that the associative principle but I’m not sure.  Here’s the link for that goody from KMart…Canyons Village at the old Park West/Canyons section of  Park City Resort announcing a new master plan for that base area, includes a new lift that will give better access to the Quicksilver connector lift and hopefully integrate the two areas a little better.  And it should help sell more real estate…elsewhere in Utah something called Whisper Ridge is opening this season, no lifts no lodge, it’s a cat skiing operation that serves a bajillion acres north of Eden.  Rates start at $450, just for the cat.  If you want to bed down in the yurt-de-luxe or buzz in on a helicopter, you need a bit more scratch.